


Tongue Tied

by kamichichi



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-10-10 01:22:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17416283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamichichi/pseuds/kamichichi
Summary: All she really wanted to do was to get stronger so she took the hunter exam. This was NOT supposed to happen. Why did that creepy jester have to keep bothering her anyway? Couldn't he just get over himself and move on? Well, it was partly her fault but really, he should just learn how personal space works.--Hisoka x reader/oc , first uploaded on Wattpad (& is relatively old writing) and am now transferring it here! It is written w/ 'y/n' in place of a name & it is written w/ 'you' as the major pronoun as of right now but I will be rewriting the story eventually!





	1. First Meeting

The elevator door slid open and you walked out, welcoming the scene in front of you. There were hundreds of people in front of you, all hoping to accomplish the same goal of becoming a hunter. It was then that you noticed the little green… individual walking towards you. 

“Hello there! I’m Bean. Please grab your tag and wear it at all times.” He said smiling while lifting a tag towards you. You grabbed it out of his hand and thanked him before walking away to find a spot for yourself.

‘Hmm, number 345. Not bad.’ You pinned it to your white shirt, making sure that the oversized bow you wore wasn’t covering it. You quickly ran your hands down your shorts as if you were patting away dust before sitting down against the wall. ‘Might as well stay comfy as I wait for the others to arrive.’

To pass time, you glanced up to watch the other contestants. It was within your best interests to learn about the enemies you would be facing, wasn’t it? There was a lot of people in front of you but no one really seemed to catch your eye. To be frank, everyone looked quite disappointing and weak. 

You continued to scan the crowd when you heard a voice chime in your ear. Looking over to your right, it was a chubby, stout man introducing himself as Tonpa. ‘Hmmmm, I still can’t feel any power in this one either. Boo. I want to have some fun while I’m here!’

You smiled at Tonpa and thanked him for the warm welcome. He offered you a drink and you graciously took it, hoping that he would leave now. Unfortunately, he didn’t and was convinced on making small talk. You sighed and popped open the can of soda. Immediately, you inhaled an unpleasant smell. You wrinkled your nose in irritation and promptly dumped the soda on Tonpa.

“Ne, ne, Tonpa-san I really don’t appreciate you trying to poison me this early into the game.” You said smiling innocently at him.

He fumed and sputtered in front of you. 

“Wha- how dare you! I’ll get my revenge soon enough!”, he shouted as he stormed away. You laughed at his back and threw the empty pop can into the trash.

‘How booooring. If this is going to be the whole exam, I might as well just not do it’ you whined in your head.

It was then that a particularly loud crowd walked out of the elevator. You could see a young boy with black hair leading another boy with blonde hair. An older looking man walked behind them with his suitcase swinging at his side. Looking at the boy, you could tell that, one day, he could very well be a worthy opponent but not yet. So, you looked back into the crowd hoping someone strong had come in while you weren’t looking. Of course, nothing had changed and you were left with that feeling of disappointment. 

Suddenly, you felt a quick increase of bloodlust coming from behind you. Your head whipped around just in time to see a man’s arms nearly explode as he screamed in agony. Glancing up, you noticed a man with spiked up, wavy red hair standing in front of him. Without a doubt, the bloodlust must have been coming from him.

‘Well shit, he’s scary! I know that I said I wanted to fight someone but I don’t think I could even stand a chance against him. I need to leave right now. For real, he must be a monster!’

You heard his smooth voice say something but you were too focused with standing up and getting as far away from him as possible. You pivoted on your heel and immediately walked in the opposite direction. Even as you walked away from the scene, you could feel his bloodlust covering the room like a blanket. It was immense and you had to focus on walking lest it take over your emotions. He was really letting go all of his irritation for everyone to see.

‘No use getting myself on his bad side. Damn, I just want someone strong enough to fight me but not kill me. I like living, thank you very much!’

You stopped as you heard a whistle. Looking to your left, there was that loud group of three. The one with the suitcase was smiling and looking you up and down. 

“What beautiful ladies we got here!”, he sung. “You really shouldn’t be here miss, you’re too pretty to be fighting!”

‘Really. Is he for real?’

You chuckled and smiled at the idiot. “Ne, ne, what’s your name?”, you said in the girliest voice you could come up with. 

“Leorio Paladiknight.”

“Well, Leorio, I believe it would be in your best interest to not irritate me any more than I already am,” you glared at him with your nen-enhanced eyes. Without even looking, you knew they had to be golden with a cat-like, slit pupil at this point. To drive the point even further, you let out your bloodlust. Well, you let out just enough bloodlust so that even an idiot like him who wasn’t trained in nen could feel it.

His eyes widened and you could see the fear flashing through him. You scoffed and quickly walked away, more irritated than you were earlier. It was then that you could feel another person’s bloodlust in the room. But that wasn’t all, you could also sense someone watching you. You involuntarily shivered and looked over your shoulder to see that creepy jester man smiling dangerously at you. He was focused solely on you and while you might have liked having a man’s attention on only you, he was definitely not the one for you. To make matters worse, he started to walk towards you with a slow but graceful stride.

‘Shit!! Now I’m in it deep! Please leave me alone, please leave me alone!’ With quick steps, you found somewhere to sit far away from the creep that was still following you. You didn’t want him to know how scared he was making you.

‘Someone please help me.’ you thought with eyes closed in prayer. Surely one of the gods up there would bless you with good luck? But of course, your luck was just as bad as it always was. You could tell that the clown was within ten meters and he would reach you shortly.

‘It looks like I die today. Well it was a nice life. I hope Kiyo lives happy. I hope she can get out of the house and find someway to feed herself. Kiyo, my love, live on in memory of me!’ You cried internally. But all of your distress was lifted as a door opened and a man walked out introducing himself as Satotz, the hunter that would lead everyone to the next part of the exam. You could tell then that the jester had turned around and was ignoring you in favor of following the instructor. ‘Am I… am I saved?’ Tears wavered in your eyes as you got up and happily followed the man named Satotz. You were truly blessed today!


	2. First Contact

You fell into place near the front of the crowd, hoping that the jester would leave you alone for the rest of the exam if you kept your distance. It was wishful thinking at best but you may as well try to hope for good fortune. 

You noticed that you had somehow managed to slide into place next to Leorio and his two friends. There seemed to be a new addition, however, as you caught the eyes of a silver haired kid skateboarding.

“Oh! You’re that lady Leorio hit on! I apologize for my friend’s actions!” The little boy with spiked black hair said. He had his hands clutched together and his head bowed as he tried to get me to forgive the other creep.

“No, no it’s fine! I was just a little irritated, that’s all,” you confessed, patting his head. “Ne, ne what’s your name? My name is  **(y/n)** .”

“Nice to meet you (y/n)! My name is Gon! And this is Kurapika and Killua!” he beamed.

You smiled at them, hoping to at least make some friends while you were here.

“Hello! I hope you don’t mind if I join you,” you laughed lightly.

“Of course not,” Gon said with a wink.

“It would be our pleasure,” Kurapika said smiling.

You made small talk with the group, taking care to ignore Leorio as much as possible. Sure you had forgiven him, but he was still pretty annoying.

By the time 50 kilometers had passed, you were beginning to feel the string of exhaustion pulling you back. It was annoying to say the least but if you slowed down, you would end up getting closer to that creepy jester and that was not an option. This one thought was the only thing that kept you going. Plenty of people had already conceded and were passed out in the tunnel but you were sure that if you ended up anywhere near the clown, you would not be having a good time.

You looked at your companions and saw the Kurapika and Leorio were feeling the dredge of exhaustion pulling them back as well. Gon and Killua? Well, you supposed kids just really did have more energy than adults. 

By 70 kilometers, Killua and Gon had run forward, seemingly racing each other. _ ‘Geez I wish I had their endurance,’ _ you thought forlornly. 

You heard a noise to your right and saw that Leorio was, once again, making a ruckus. Except this time, he whipped off his shirt and tied it around his waist. You averted your eyes from the sight and pushed forward. When you did look back, you saw that Kurapika had also taken off his vest. To be honest, you were a bit jealous. Unlike them, you couldn’t just take off your shirt because you had made the mistake of not wearing a sports bra. In fact, running this long was really getting old and painful fast. You tighten your arms more under your chest, trying to hold them steady.  _ ‘Geez, this good for nothing chest is in the way. I really should have just worn that sports bra instead of trying to look cute today,’ _ you pouted with your lip jutting out.

Thankfully, stairs began to appear into your view. Well I guess you shouldn’t be thankful because stairs are no fun to run up either but at least you knew then that the end had to be near. With this new burst of longing and energy, you sprinted forward and gracefully climbed the stairs in front of you. At the top, you were finally able to slow down and find a spot to catch your breath. Looking around, you saw Gon and Killua waving at you to join them. You smiled and made your way over there, still slightly out of breath.

“Geez, how do you boys have so much energy. It’s no fair at all!” you pouted wrapping your arms around their shoulders and rocking side to side.

Gon just chuckled and Killua crossed his arms and glared off to the side. A slight pink was dusted over his face.

_ ‘Ohohohohoho~ I see what this is Killua,’  _ you laughed mentally. You didn’t want to distress the boy so you said nothing but you had a knowing smirk on your face in the inside.

“Leorio! Kurapika! Over here!” Gon shouted at the two who had just made it over the bend of the stairs. They slowly made their way over and we were all able to have a short conversation before being interrupted. It seemed that the time constraint was over and the doors were closing on all of those not fast enough to make it. 

A voice rang out among the conversations. Satotz was explaining about the next part of this stage in the exam. He explained that we were to follow him through the swamp and not lose sight of him under any circumstances. This explanation was, of course, interrupted as another creature approached the crowd. It was.. a monkey? And the monkey was carrying a bag with Satotz in it? 

He began shouting nonsense about how we shouldn’t trust Satotz and blah blah blah.  _ ‘Psh okay beast, like anyone is going to listen to you.’ _

In a flash, your cheek felt warm. You reached up your hand to feel a wetness welcome you. You quickly looked over to see cards embedded in the imposter, immediately, you pieced together what had happened. With an achingly slow turn of your head, you looked over to where the jester was standing. Once again, he was smiling that dangerous smile with his eyes slightly closed. For a moment, you could feel yourself stop breathing as he was the only thing you could register.

“Hey (y/n)! What happened to your cheek? Are you okay?” questioned Gon, pulling on your arm to get your attention.

The world shifted again and you were able to look away from the jester’s eyes.

“Oh, I’m fine. I guess those cards caught me,” you chuckled rubbing the back of our neck.

“That damn creep Hisoka,” Leorio mumbled at your side.

You ran the back of your hand over your cheek to rub off the blood that was dripping from the shallow cut. You brought your hand down and you looked at it closely. ‘ _ Hmm. That’s a lot of blood from a wound just like a paper cut.’ _ You shot a glance to the jester and then looked back down at your hand. _ ‘It must have been nen-infused that little sneak. No wonder it felt so sharp. There’s no other way that mere playing cards could kill someone. What did Leorio say his name was? Hisoka? I really should take care to avoid him then.’ _

You bent down and wiped your hand off in the grass at your feet. You could tell that your cheek hadn’t stopped bleeding but the flow was much lighter and it shouldn’t pose a problem of getting on your shirt.

You stood up just in time to see Satotz begin to run once again.  _ ‘Oh boy, here we go.’ _ You didn’t miss a beat as you fell into a place between your new companions. You all followed along the crowd with ease. With luck, this wouldn’t be another 80km marathon.

“Hey, we should probably move closer to the front,” Killua spoke against the sounds of feet stomping on the ground. 

He pushed forward with Gon following close at his heels. You were about to follow when a particularly thick fog trapped you, Leorio, and Kurapika.

“Well, it looks like we’ve been separated,” you said bluntly.

Leorio glared at you so, like a proper 19 year old, you stuck your tongue out at him.

“I’m going to try to find the crowd by climbing the trees! I’ll catch you guys at the finish line, right?” you said smiling. Immediately after you saw their nods, you dashed towards a large clump of trees. You didn’t want to get too far away from the others so you had to move fast. You paused in front of a tall tree and began to pull yourself up using the branches as leverage.

Halfway up, you could hear the whisper of voices through the thick fog. _ ‘People! Yes! They might know the way to the finish line.’ _

You jumped from tree to tree using your agility to your advantage until you could see a large clearing. Unfortunately, you were met with a sight you didn’t really want to see.

The jester, Hisoka, was standing in the clearing with the group of people yelling at him. He began to laugh and he easily offed them with his cards. Screams filled the clearing and you could only hope that you had activated your zetsu early enough that he wouldn’t know you were there.

Suddenly, Hisoka looked in your direction. Your heart raced at the sudden shock, but, he wasn’t looking at you. He was looking below you. It seemed that Leorio and Kurapika had stumbled into his little game.

_ ‘Shit! Those idiots better run! There’s no way that they can beat him.’ _

Thankfully they bolted in opposite directions, away from Hisoka. You sighed in relief, that was until you heard Leorio run back into the clearing shouting about how he couldn’t stand around and watch Hisoka kill innocent people.

_ ‘Leorio! You idiot!’  _ He lunged at Hisoka with a stick in his hand. Easily, Hisoka sidestepped and slammed his arm into Leorio’s stomach, pushing him back. But at the exact moment he was unguarded, a hook and bobber hit his cheek leaving behind a red mark. His head whipped over to where you could see Gon in the bushes with his fishing pole. His eyes were focused but you could tell that he knew where he stood in this food chain. _ ‘Damn it all!’  _ You thought as you pushed down the fear of being near Hisoka. There was no one else around to help and Gon was too young to be put through the inevitable pain Hisoka would incur onto him. You could see him approaching Gon with said ill intent and you jumped out of the tree pushing your body to move as fast as you could towards Gon. You were too slow as Hisoka reached his slender hand out and wrapped it around the young boy’s neck. He easily pulled Gon off of the ground and held him in the air, restricting Gon’s airways painfully.

“Let him go, you creep!”

You jumped at him just as Leorio did the same. Leorio reached him first, however, since he was closer to begin with, and Hisoka, once again, knocked him to the side. This time though, he had knocked him unconscious. He fell to the ground like a doll and you quickly took the chance to whip your leg at his face. He caught it and yanked you up and off the ground. With your balance distorted and the world turned upside down, you had to regain your grip and focus on the task at hand. You could tell that Hisoka was tightening his hand around Gon’s neck so you swung up and twisted your body so that you could latch onto the arm holding up Gon. You grabbed on tightly and began to apply pressure and nen until you heard something break. Even then, you did not let up. You were still twisting and forcing his arm to become a mangled mess.

“Let. Him. Go.”

Hisoka looked at you with wild eyes before finally dropping the boy and focusing his attention on you. He dropped you to the ground and straddled you, locking your legs into place with his own. You tried to push him off but he grabbed both of your arms quickly with his one good arm, holding them in place above your head.

_ ‘Boy, I’m really going to die this time Kiyo,’ _ you lamented.  _ ‘I never even got to write a will or even have a nice boyfriend to grow old with.’ _

He moved his face inches away from your own

“You’re going to be such a fun toy to break~” he whispered darkly. Your eyes grew wide as his grip on your arms tightened painfully. There had to be someway out of this predicament. Maybe you could go into Kurohyou mode and someway break free. You were faster in that mode… but would it really help in a situation like this? It was doubtful. You closed your eyes and tried once again to wiggle out of his strong hold but it was to no avail. His weight and strength easily encompassed your own and he was an immovable obstacle compared to your small frame. You felt him shift slightly above you moving his face to your right side. His breath fanned over your face making your mind run wild with new found fears.

Your eyes shot open when you felt a wet drag make a path up your cheek.  Hisoka had flattened his tongue and was running it slowly along the cut that he had made earlier, licking up all of the remaining blood on your face. You're body shuddered in response and you could feel the heat pooling towards your face.

“No! Let go!” you shouted with a renewed struggle. 

He chuckled darkly and smiled down at you. You looked back at him with a steely resolve just daring him to try anything else. It was, of course, a bluff but you really had no other options.

“Mmmm those eyes! You really are making this too hard for me. Now I’m really excited!~” he said impishly with his eyes growing wilder.

And yet, you felt him quickly and gracefully remove himself from ontop of you. He walked away and grabbed Leorio, throwing him over his shoulder. You just stared at his retreating back incredulously.

_ ‘What…..what just happened?’ _

He looked back at you over his shoulder with that disgusting smile on his face before he threw a card right at you. You rolled out of the way and shot up into a fighting pose.

“Now, now toy~ Don’t you have somewhere to be?” his velvety voice carried over the fog.

You maintained your pose until he was fully out of sight. Quickly, you grabbed Gon and picked him up. You knew that he was not going to be able to breath easily after his neck had been compressed so much. He was coughing in your arms so you tightened your grip and began to run. There was no way you would stop after you and Gon had made it this far to begin with. You eventually met up with Kurapika and neither of you mentioned what had just transpired. With time, Gon could walk again and he lead the three of you to the finish line by following Leorio’s scent. Surprisingly, he wasn't all that mad or scared and only seemed to be fired up. Children really do have it so much easier. They were so blindfully braveful.

The three of you walked over to where you saw Killua and the now conscious Leorio. Without looking, you could tell that Hisoka was watching you again.

_ ‘Boy, am I in it way too deep.’ _


	3. First Loss

With the group reunited, you all took the chance to have a bit of conversation. Of course, your short reprise didn't last long as a voice rang out among the crowd.

"Excellent work, everyone! Phase two of the exam will occur here, in Biska Forest Park. So, I shall take my leave. Best of luck to all of you."

You watched as Satotz walked through the crowd and back into the bog. You were a little sad to see him leave but you figured it was time for a new challenge. Hopefully, it would be a little more interesting than a game of follow the leader but you were sure that whatever it was, it would be entertaining nonetheless.

You heard a rumble and looked over to see the huge gates in front of you opening up. It seemed that whatever was to come would take place just past these gates.

A girl's voice rang out among the crowd and she beckoned those that had passed the first phase forward. 

Her hair was a little strange but you could appreciate her personality showing through her style. She called herself Menchi and the large man behind her introduced himself as Buhara. The crowd remained silent. It seemed that no one really knew what to say or do.

That was until you heard a loud grumble coming from Buhara.

Apparently, phase two was centered around... cooking? Well, you supposed that it could come in handy in case you were ever stuck on your own while being a hunter. Of course, the second she said cooking, however, people began to voice their dissent.

You scowled at all of the annoying complaints everyone deemed necessary to share. Your anger really flared when one of the examinees starts to laugh at Menchi and Buhara.

'God, what an irritating little baby. Can't even handle the fact that there are other hunters beside monster hunters.'

Eventually, the laughter subsided and the two examiners explained the rules of the phase. You figured it wouldn't go too well based on your very limited knowledge of cooking, but hey, it was worth a shot!

You and the group set out to find the pigs. It sure took a while but when you saw Gon sliding down that hill, you knew he had to have found something. And find something he did!

There were tons of pigs sitting in front of you munching on... bones? 

"Are they cannibals?" asked Kurapika.

'Hooooo boy, here we go.'

Immediately the pigs looked over at the five of you sitting there. With a squeal, the chase was on and somehow, you guys were the prey.

You took off running, staying towards the end of the line. And suddenly, you could see more people. Looks like you guys had led the pigs directly to the crowds.

The pigs plowed through the people easily. It seemed that their large snouts were much like armor to them and they blocked nearly all attacks that were thrown at them.

Seeing everyone fighting at least one pig, you decided that you might as well join in on the fun. With that thought, you turned on your heel and stood in front of an angry pig. You smiled at it before running head on. As it squealed and pummeled towards you, you jumped up and landed on its back. You grabbed its ears and tried to steer it towards a large tree but even ramming into the tree didn't phase it.

"It's forehead is it's weak point!" you heard Kurapika shout as Gon took one pig down.

"Ah so if I just aim for the forehead..?" you said aloud to yourself.

With a new burst of energy, you used your conjuring abilities to bring out your claws. With quick precision, you stabbed the pig directly in its forehead, effectively killing it. Before anyone noticed, you whipped your hand to the side and your claws disappeared as quickly as they had come.

"Got one!" you yelled towards your friends.

It seemed that plenty of others had also taken down a pig.

You slid off of your pig's back and hefted him up above your head. You had to use nen to enhance your strength but you were still able to bring the pig all the way back to the cooking grounds with ease.

And now, the cooking begins!

You grabbed a knife and began to cut your pig into smaller portions, much easier for eating. You threw those slices over the fire and let them cook as you prepared a barbecue sauce as best as you could. It might not have been the best, but it would have to do.

After finishing the sauce, you slathered it over the still cooking meat. Hopefully, it would give it some flavor but you weren't too sure. When the meat looked cooked, you took it off the heat and poured more sauce onto it. You tried your best to make the plate look nice using all of your knowledge that you had gleaned from cooking shows, but it was a lot harder than it looked. Soon, you wiped your forehead and looked at the plate proudly. It looked pretty good! And as an extra little touch, you threw a garnish on top to really bring it together.

You smiled to yourself and looked around you. The smile slowly fell as you noticed everyone else had just roasted the pig whole.

'Oh well, it's too late now.'

Smacking your cheeks a little, you grabbed the plate and made your way up to the judges table.

Menchi looked at your plate with a critical eye.

"At least this one tried!" she scoffed.

You wrung your hands as she made the move to eat the meat. You always hated it when people ate your food. It made you so nervous! What if it wasn't good? You didn't want anyone to get sick or not enjoy the food.

"Blehh! Your sauce is way too sweet! It's supposed to be barbecue not honey!" She yelled, holding up the 'x'.

Your shoulders slumped and your mouth opened and closed.

'Is this it? Did I really just fail the hunter exam?'

"No one passes! We're done here!"

Immediately yelling erupts from the crowd. Menchi continues to explain her reasoning, but no one cared to listen. It was pure mayhem with people pulling out weapons in response to Menchi pulling out four knives.

You backed away from the middle and moved towards Gon and the others, trying to stay away from the fighting. That was, until a voice rang out above all of the commotion.

It seemed that the exam wasn't over just yet. There was going to be a change of plans courtesy of the chairman himself.

With a quick discussion, everyone was being pushed into an airship to move towards Mt. Split-in-Half. The new exam would take place there with the objective of making boiled eggs.

The flight was fast and everyone was soon shuffled down to the mountain where we were brought to a large ravine. Looking down, you could see webs where spider eagles would create their nest.

Menchi took the time to explain a bit of the nature of spider eagles before she was jumping down into the crack. You watched, mesmerized, as she grabbed onto the web and sat there. She seemed to be waiting for something.

You leaned closer to the crack , watching her movements. In a split second, she let go of the web and grabbed an egg while falling. It left you speechless as she seemed to just fall for an eternity. In reality, though, it was just a few seconds before she was flying back up, riding with the updraft.

With ease, she landed gracefully, egg still in hand.

"Wow," you said, stunned.

Before you knew it, people all around you had begun to jump into the ravine, wanting to experience the same rush. It was exciting and filled you with a burst of motivation.

Not wanting to be left out, you followed the group, easily catching onto the web. You weren't exactly nearby Gon and the others, but that was okay. You were still there and ready to make it to the next phase.

Well, that was until you felt the web dip next to you.

You turned your face and saw someone you had hoped to avoid.

And that someone was...

Hisoka.

"Why, hello (y/n)."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previous 3 chapters written in 2016! This chapter is written this year. I apologize for any changes in my writing <3

With the appearance of the strange man, your face contorted into a grimace. You pointedly turned your head, ignoring Hisoka and trying to scope out your self-appointed group of new friends. You could see them a few web strands away, having a good time for the most part. When you caught eyes with Kurapika, you could see some kind of emotion flash in his eyes very quickly as he noticed who was hanging next to you. It seemed to be pity? Or maybe fear. You couldn’t really tell from this distance.

With a sudden shaking of the web underneath your fingers, you broke the eye contact you had with Kurapika and looked around to see that some contestants had begun to jump out of fear and anxiety. Blame your cat-like senses but it just… didn’t feel right to jump yet. That thought was confirmed when you heard Gon yell, “Wait.” There was something about that boy that let you trust him with all of your heart despite just meeting him that day.

You could feel your fingers begin to cramp from holding the web so tight. You knew that you would have to jump at just the right time to make it out of this ravine alive but the anxiety of the situation was finally beginning to set in. 

“Now!”

 

With that, you let go and began to fall. You quickly reached to snag an egg and just as you touched the smooth shell, you felt something grab your leg and yank. Long nails dragged along your skin and you could feel your instincts override. With your momentum interrupted, you began to lose your composure and you were quickly hurtling in the direction of the ravine walls. A glance towards the force told you that the cause of this disturbance was none other than Hisoka. He had snagged the egg you were initially after and was smiling in your direction as you got closer and closer to slamming into the wall. You quickly leveled out your body to slow your fall with air resistance and instead used the wall you were about to hit to you advantage. You propelled off the wall and back towards the center of the ravine where the eggs were located. At this point, all you could do was flip over to be falling with you chest upwards to the sky in order to grab an egg on the way back up.

The fall seemed endless. It was, quite frankly, terrifying. But before you could really begin to freak out, the updraft pushed hard against your back. Your descent slowed significantly before you seemed to hover in the air. Before you could really appreciate the feeling, you were already launching up towards the opening of the ravine. Time was really against you as you tried to position yourself in the reach of an egg. Thankfully, you grabbed one relatively quickly and all the tension in your body was relieved and you could really enjoy the fun of this updraft now. As luck would have it, you reached the top of the ravine right next to your friends. It was amazing how light hearted you could all feel laughing when you were so close to death moments ago.

Before the updraft finished, the five of you made it safely back on to the stable ground. All of the group proudly toted their eggs high above their heads. Preparing and eating the eggs made for a wonderful reward for the five of you. You guys celebrated and had a good time taking a break after the all of the stress of the exam up until this point. Conversations were lively all throughout the area as everyone celebrating making it so far.

Yet, even with the happy atmosphere all around you, you could still feel a looming presence of dread coming from behind you. Your body involuntarily shivered with the feeling of someone watching you. You didn’t have to look to know who would be making you feel this way. 

As everyone around you laughed, you could feel the smile fall from your face as you glanced down at your bleeding leg. 

‘What have I gotten roped into…’

\---

As night approached, the 42 remaining applicants boarded an airship. You were all ushered into a large, main room aboard the airship as the Chairman made a short speech about how the exam was going thus far and that you would arrive at our destination at 8am. With that, everyone was told to do as they please. 

“Okay, Gon! Let’s go explore the airship.”

“Yeah!”

Honestly, you were just amazed as you watched the two kids in your group run off to look around the airship. 

“How can they have so much energy?” Leorio asked, effectively voicing your question in the process.

“I don’t get it either,” you grumbled with a pout. “I’m heading to bed, y’all with me?”

Kurapika and Leorio voiced their agreement and began to walk with you towards the rooms on the airship. The three of you began to converse about the nature of the exam.

“How many more phases are there?” asked Kurapika.

“I hope not too many. I want to get to the one on ones,” you said in response.

“I can’t say that surprises me,” Leorio chimed in.

“Why is that?”

“Well most people find it easier to be in teams and yet you want to fight other applicants one on one. That could be the hardest part of the exam since you don’t know what everyone else is capable of. But you, you seem to always be watching everyone else from the sidelines. Even now, I can’t tell if you’re really really on our team, you know?” Upon hearing this, your step faltered. You didn’t expect Leorio to be the one paying so close attention to how you’ve been approaching this exam. Kurapika, maybe. But Leorio? He seemed like too much of an idiot, frankly.

You recovered from your moment of surprise and responded, “...huh. You’re pretty observant, aren’t you Leorio?”

His face became tinted with red and he glared in the opposite direction of you.

“Er well, yeah, mm of course. I’m not, uh, oblivious, most of the time. At least, I try not to be...oblivious, if I can help it.”

You chuckled at his flustered response and pat him on the shoulder to assuage his worries. This only seemed to make him redder.

Your cheerful conversation continued until you all reached an empty room. All the tension in your shoulders left in one fell swoop as you breathed out a sigh. Rest was more than needed by now. 

The three of you quickly settled into the room. You all said your goodnights and fell into your own little spaces to spend the night. Sleep immediately hit Leorio and you could hear him snore loudly from his spot in the small room. You smiled warmly in his direction before glancing at Kurapika. He seemed to be deep in thought and it looked to be something you shouldn’t interrupt. Your eyebrows furrowed in a bit of worry for your new friend.

Now, you weren’t that young or naive. In this world, everyone has to carry some heavy memories and emotions with them. No one taking this exam was without some kind of life-changing story to tell of a time in their life. You could only hope your new friend wasn’t involved with anything too deep at such a young age. Hell, he couldn’t be any older than 15 or 16.

You rolled over to let Kurapika have his peace and you quickly fell asleep as the toll on your body made itself known in your relaxed state of mind.

\--

Bright and early, you were awoken by the sudden sound of a voice coming through the intercom. You had apparently reached the destination. You got up from your spot and the floor and stretched hard, feeling the satisfying burn of your muscles being strained. You could feel your back making quiet little pops before you settled your posture back into its typical form.

You peeked over at the boys to see that they had been woken up by the voice too.

“Good morning boys, are you ready for the next phase?” you said with a cheeky smile.

\--

All of the applicants piled off of the airship and on to the top of a tall tower. Bean introduced the tower to be the Trick Tower and he explained that the rules of the phase was to get to the bottom of the tower in 72 hours. There were no other specifications given.

People began to look at each other, almost as if looking for answers. Peering over the side of the tower confirmed that jumping off would be deadly. So, how would one get down? It was at this point that a contestant decided to rock climb his way down. You watched in amazement as he seemed to find footholds effortlessly in this tower. That was, you watched until you heard something... strange. The noise of flapping and groans seemed to be coming from somewhere below the tower. Before you could try to determine where, your questions were answered as you watched strange beasts fly up from a previously unseen point. They were these discolored, winged creatures with teeth too big for their mouths. It was terrifying as you watched them fly up and scoop up the screaming rock climber in their gargantuan mouths. Screams filled the once silent area before the creatures flew away and out of sight once more.

“Well I guess we can’t just climb down then,” muttered Kurapika.

With this, the search for a way in the tower began.

You immediately start taking note of what other applicants are trying. It seems some are just wandering, looking for any doors or windows, while some are also watching the people around them. Most seemed to be looking closely at the ground and banging or kicking in hopes to find a break through.

‘It’s likely some sort of hidden door through these tiles. What is going to make it difficult is the disorder. None of the tiles seem to be arranged in any specific way, so the hidden door or doors could be any of the tiles.’

“Hey, Y/N, Kurapika, Leorio!” Gon shouted and waved us over. We quickly all trotted over to where he stood with Killua.

“What’s up, little dude?” you asked.

“Look! I found a hidden door!” The boy pressed down on the edge of a tile and it moved in, just as he said.

“I see. So we can descend by flipping the stones,” Kurapika said.

“Great job, Gon! Let’s head on down!” Leorio said with a hand on Gon’s shoulder.

Something still seemed off to you. There had to be some sort of catch to this so that applicants can’t just all go through the first door someone finds.

“But I’m confused,” Gon said interrupting your thoughts and voicing your concern. “There are also hidden doors here, there, over there, and over there, as well.”

“That many?” Leorio said in shock.

“Five hidden doors, located in the same area,” Kurapika murmured. He seemed to be quickly working out the problem at hand. “It seems suspicious.”

“So, there might be traps,” you stated in a matter of fact tone.

Killua spoke up and said, “It looks as though each door can only be used once…” He told the group of the applicant he and Gon had seen go through one of the doors. Immediately after, the two boys had tried the door but it wouldn’t budge.

Kurapika also then noted that with the size of the door, only one person would be able to fit at a time.

“Hmm. So we have to split up,” you declared.

Everyone in the group agreed with that statement. You all agreed no hard feelings if any of the group happened to end up with a door harder than the others. With that, each of you positioned yourselves at a different hidden door. You said your goodbyes for the moment and promised to meet up again at the bottom of the tower. Without leaving time for doubt, you all jumped in at once on the count of three.

With cat-like grace, you hit the ground on your feet. You had braced yourself for the impact so you landed seemingly easily without crashing to your butt. You quickly glanced around the room you had landed in. You could only see one familiar face in front of you and it filled you with displeasure. Your luck had run out, it seemed, since you were staring at the face of Hisoka.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was abandoned for a long while but I'm really hoping to get back into writing this year!! I want to get better for my dnd campaign honestly LOL
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading!! Chapters will be uploaded to my wattpad first (under the same username). I appreciate any comments or suggestions yall have for me! <3


	5. Chapter 5 [First Partnership]

Upon landing on your feet after falling into the room, you were met with the figure of Hisoka slouched against the wall; his eyes were watching your every move. Immediately, a wave of anxiety rushed through your body. He only smiled in response to the visible shiver you had upon seeing him.

At this point, your body was strung with tension. You didn’t know whether to try to jump back through the door you came in or just get as far away from him as possible in the small room. You could tell he only found enjoyment in your unease. You watched as his tall figure began to pick itself up from the dusty ground with an elegance you had previously only seen in professional ballet dancers. It was with the sharp sound of metal and gleam of silver that your eyes finally caught sight of the handcuffs he twirled around his manicured finger.

“What are- why do- you’re not- hah?” You stuttered in a poor attempt to ask what he was doing and why he had handcuffs while he steadily made his way over to you. Yet, each step he took was matched with a step back that you took. 

Every bone in your body was shouting in danger as this man approached you. All too suddenly though, you hit the wall behind you. His presence was suffocating as he finally stood only inches in front of you, bent so that his eyes were level with yours. The only thing you saw was his smile curl dangerously before you could feel the cold metal of the handcuffs clasp around your right wrist.

Click.

Just as quickly as he was in your personal space, he was out of it. Well… sort of. Your arm was tugged towards him as he took a step back to allow you to breath. You glanced down to see that the other end of the handcuff was on his left wrist.

“What..?” you asked weakly.

“It seems that this phase requires ‘teamwork’ to complete, my dear.”

As much as you were creeped out by the dude, his voice had a sickeningly sweet melody to it. One that you found yourself enjoying a little too much.

“Now, come,” he said with a tug on the cuffs. You finally noticed the open doorway in front of you.

\---

It took a minute for you to adjust to the weight of the cuff on your wrist and the constant tugging of the tall man in front of you. He was definitely dominating in the situation you two were stuck in. If he truly thought this was teamwork, then you had a feeling he hasn’t been on many teams before. There was no room for argument in the decisions he made. You were merely a toy being dragged along by the unpredictable cat in front of you.

An unpredictable cat with amazing shoulders.

You couldn’t help but appreciate the sight in front of you. Now you knew Hisoka was dangerous; nothing about his demeanor said he was a nice, trustworthy guy. But the fact of the matter is: he’s got a great body. He has definitely trained to keep his body in its prime. This fact was evident in his toned back and muscled arms. His figure tapered in at the waist, which was accentuated by the strange pink wrappings he had wrapped around his torso. Your eyes continued to trace his muscles and were nearing his backside before you were roughly shoved against the wall of the hallway you were in. 

You could hear rather than see the arrow shoot right past where your head had been a moment ago. Your vision was entirely engulfed by the sight of Hisoka’s towering form and his eyes glaring at you. You could see some sort of disappointment flash in his eyes before he was walking back through the hallway and tugging you along. Your head was spinning at how fast everything had moved just then but you were snapped back into focus as you heard his voice chime in the small hallway.

“I thought you were better than that.”

The tone of his voice immediately flared irritation within you. He was making ridiculing you. 

‘And to think I thought he was cute!’

You huffed in response and pushed in front of him. If he thought you were a pushover, then you would prove him wrong. 

With that, you took the lead for some time. The two of you quietly navigated through small hallways, deftly avoiding traps. You made sure to pay attention and not miss a single trap. You were determined to not let him make anymore dumb comments like before. Eventually, a hallway led to a set of stairs, at the end of which was a large and ornate metal door. You paused in front of it to inspect it in search of some kind of strange lock or trap but you found nothing. Hesitantly, you reached up to push it. With very little force, the door swung open and revealed a strange sight. In front of the two of you was another hallway, wider than the last but still small enough to be considered a hallway. The strange part was the fact that there was no floor and instead, the hallway parted to a rather deep drop. 

You peeked your head over the edge and couldn’t even see the bottom. This gap lasted about 25 feet before you could, once again, see the floor of the hallway as it should be.

You looked over at Hisoka with a questioning stare and asked, “what do you think we’re supposed to do here?”

“Well, we cross it.”

You scoffed and tried to cross your arms but were stopped by the handcuffs binding your wrist to his. “No shit, you clown. How do we cross it?”

He stared at you with his piercing gaze. You had been snarky unconsciously and you just realized you called him a clown. Goosebumps spread across your skin and you could feel your face getting warm from embarrassment and honestly? A little bit of fear. The goosebumps only got worse when he smiled widely at you, his eyes squinting in glee, and pat your head.

“Y/N, turn around.”

You stiffened up after the question. “Why?”

 

“Just turn around and I’ll explain if you’re really that dumb.”

You glared at him and huffed in annoyance, all embarrassment and fear thrown out the window and replaced with irritation at being treated like a kid. You quickly turned around so you’re back was facing him. Before you could even ask what next, you felt Hisoka’s back against your own. He looped his right arm with your left arm and then grabbed your right hand in his. He relocated the two of you until you were facing the gap with each of you turned to look at a wall. Immediately, you figured out what his plan was and muttered a small ‘oh’.

You felt him brace against your back as he asked, “are you ready?” 

“Yeah, I think so,” you replied, albeit a little bit distractedly. As he had asked you that question, he had also squeezed your hand tighter in his grip. You didn’t know if it was a conscious or unconscious decision but you really hoped your hands weren’t sweaty right now.

“Good.”

With that, you two braced against each other and each lifted a leg to brace against the wall. You then lifted your other leg and you could feel him do the same. The two of you began to move right after you had both braced against each other and the wall. It was a slow walk across the gap. Surprisingly though, you both adjusted to each other very quickly. The balance between each of you pushing remained consistent as you both traveled across the extreme drop.

Before you realized it, the two of you had made it across and were back on stable ground once again. You sighed in relief.

“We did it.”

“Mhm,” he replied with an amused tone. It was then that you noticed you still had a tight grip on his hand. You released it quickly and turned your face away from his. You could already feel the heat gathering again.

“Let's move then,” you said roughly.

He merely chuckled at how uncomfortable you seemed. He reclaimed the lead and began to pull you along deeper into the hallway.

\---

It was quite some time until the two of you came across another door. It was a simple, solid metal door. As Hisoka got close, the door opened on its own accord. The metal slab slid up and into a gap between the walls, leaving a smooth metal frame in its place. Hisoka walked through with no hesitation and you were pulled in with him.

The second the two of you stepped foot in the open, circular room, candles with a strange green flame began to light around the room. With a quick look, you could see that they were placed on a set of stairs going up that followed the curve of the walls in the room. The most notable thing in the room, however, was a figure sitting on the ground across from the two of you. He looked up as you both entered and you could see that this man had deep scars across his face.

“I’ve been waiting for you Hisoka,” he said with a sneer.

You looked up at Hisoka’s face to judge his feelings toward the man but you were met with a blank stare. There was nothing written on his face, only his bored stare directed at the man in front of you two.

“I’m not an examiner this year. I’m here for revenge. Since last years exam, all I’ve focused on was killing you.”

The man stood up from his crouched spot on the floor and pulled out a curved blade from his waistband.

He had a crazed look on his face as he yelled towards Hisoka, “today I’ll get revenge for my scars!” He skillfully spun his blade and caught it before brandishing it towards the stoic man beside you.

“Those scars merely show that you were an incompetent examiner,” Hisoka finally spoke. “You’re blaming me for your own inadequacies.”

At this, the man pulled out another curved blade and did a show of spinning this new blade too.

“Keep yapping! Prepare to die, Hisoka.”

You could see that Hisoka had a small smile on his face in regards to the man in front of him. He seems amused at the situation he had stumbled into.

“Dual wielding, huh,” he murmured lowly. Your inspection of his face was interrupted when you saw his smile break.

The man in front of you two had thrown his blades high into the air. With the blades still spinning, he had collected an additional two blades from behind his back.

“Infinite quad wielding!”

“Well, now, that’s just excessive!” you complained. You heard Hisoka chuckle at your outburst.

“Take this!”

Before you knew it, two blades were soaring your way. You were preparing to dodge when you felt a strong arm slide around your waist and Hisoka lifted you from the ground. He expertly dodged the two blades, throwing his body in between them and holding you against his chest. When he landed, he released his hold on you.

“I could have dodged that!”

“I’m sure you could have.”

The two of you didn’t have much time to talk before the man was running at Hisoka, specifically. You could feel the pull of your handcuffs as you both dodged back and back again. It seemed you both hadn’t been quick enough with the pull of the cuffs because a blade flew past and nicked Hisoka in his side. A second blade had swiped across your thigh.

“It’s not over yet!”

The man sent the blades flying back towards you two. You got close to Hisoka and grabbed his left hand in your right. This time, the cuffs wouldn’t get in your way. You each dodged, shifting control between the two of you. To an outsider, it seemed like a well rehearsed dance between partners who knew each other for years. Each step was perfectly matched, each move efficiently executed. There was an unspoken balance between the two of you at this moment.

Faintly, you could hear the prisoner yell at Hisoka about getting cut from every angle and his endless stream of blades and yadda yadda. His incessant shouting was quickly getting on your nerves. If only you could get in close range with this man, then you knew that you and Hisoka could easily take him out.

You deflected another oncoming blade with the chain of your handcuffs pulled taught between your two bodies. Immediately afterwards, you were pulled back close to Hisoka as you continued to dodge and dodge and dodge. That is until Hisoka stopped. You waited as Hisoka stood still, watching two blades spin wildly towards him. You began to pull the cuffs to urge him to move out of the way but he pulled you back close to him. All too quickly, you felt your wrist yanked to keep up with his own. You saw the blades close in on him much too fast. You blinked and you saw the blades in gripped in his hands. Your eyes snapped to his face when you heard him speak.

“It would indeed be difficult to dodge your attacks. Thus, I should simply stop the blades.” You watched in curiosity as he brandished the weapons against their owner. He raised one of the blades to his face, his tongue poking out to lick the metal.

You didn’t even have time to think before he was moving towards the prisoner. You followed, matching you step with his.

Hisoka stopped a few feet in front of the man and made a show of spinning the blades just as the prisoner had done all this time.

“Oh, it was easier than anticipated,” he said with a voice smooth as silk. He briefly made eye contact with you before looking back at the prisoner in front of him.

If you hadn’t know before, then you knew now: this man was truly a force to be reckoned with. You had no doubt of his power. This was especially apparent to you since you hadn’t even seen him use any kind of nen yet.

“I appreciate your futile efforts,” Hisoka sneered with a twisted smile warping his face.

You watched the man in front of you, all wide-eyed and full of disbelief. He shouted one last time before Hisoka ended his life right before you. You could only watch as the jester swung the blades one last time before plunging them deep in the man’s lifeless body. His sick smile fell from his face and he seemed disappointed at the outcome of this face. You stiffened as he finally looked back at you with his cold eyes.

“Let’s go.”

\---

The rest of you time in Trick Tower was rather uneventful. There were a few more puzzles to solve and a few more fights to be had with loose prisoners, which always ended in death for them. As time went on though, you began to notice something strange.

Each fight seemed to leave Hisoka a little more...unbalanced. It almost seemed to you that he was looking for something in each fight and none had been able to deliver. Regardless, his change in composure was putting you on edge. You were afraid that he might snap and look for whatever it was that he desperately needed in you.

You two continued to walk the winding halls of the tower. There wasn’t much of a conversation to be had between you two. You had also given up the lead just to ensure that Hisoka wasn’t going to turn his tension on you.

After some time of wandering, you two came across a tall, metal door. It opened as you approached and you found yourselves entering an empty room. A sharp metal clang echoed in the room as your handcuffs undid themselves and fell to the floor. A voice sounded out over the speakers hidden in the ceiling of the room.

“Hisoka, applicant #44, is the first to pass the Third Phase. Total time, six hours and twenty-three minutes. Y/N, applicant #345, is the second to pass the Third Phase. Total time, six hours and twenty-three minutes.”

You were a little irritated at the fact you were second purely because you walked in behind him but at least this phase was done.

“Well that was fun,” you said with a sigh, glancing back up at Hisoka.

“Mm.”

You took one last look at his blank expression before giving up and moving over towards a wall. This seemed as good a place as any to rest for the next...66 hours? Oh boy, you had a long time to sit with the jester and pray he left you alone. 

You sat down on the ground and leaned up against the wall, trying your best to get in a comfy position. Your plan was to catch up on as much sleep as possible. It had been a hectic few days and this would be a nice reward for finishing the phase so early.

Before you could even close your eyes, you heard a shuffle of feet. You watched Hisoka as he also took a spot on the wall not far from you, except he didn’t seem to plan on napping like you. Instead, he stared off at some point on the wall in front of him. It looked like your companion had some heavy thinking to do. No matter. You were ready for some sleep.

You got comfortable on the wall and closed your eyes. It took a bit of time but eventually, you could feel yourself grow tired even in the alarming presence of the jester you had just spent way too long with. The last thing you remember before succumbing to sleep was the uneasy feeling of someone watching you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading y'all!! feel free to leave any comments or suggestions, i love reading them <3


	6. Chapter 6

You’re eyes drifted open with the sound of increasingly loud voices. You could see that there were a lot more people than you last remembered. Glancing over to your left, you could see that Hisoka was still lounging in his place against the wall. It was at that point that you could see his shirt really stained with blood. It was alarming to see that his injury was more serious than expected and yet Hisoka’s demeanor was so calm and collected. It was like he hadn’t noticed that he was even injured.

Speaking of injuries, the cut on your thigh made itself know with a sharp spike of pain. The adrenaline of the phase seemed to have blocked out the pain earlier but now that you had rested, it was ready to be treated. You reached behind you to get at the small bag you kept strapped on your waist. With limited supplies, all you could really do was wrap a bandage around your thigh to stop any residual bleeding and protect it from any kind of infections from here on out. 

You quickly wrapped the white bandage a few times around your thigh. It was tight but luckily it didn’t impede any kind of movement. With that, you stood up and subconsciously wiped off imaginary dirt from your knees.

‘It’s only right I offer my help to Hisoka since he got hurt and it was kinda my fault? Like, I guess it was the handcuffs fault but I could have been quicker on the draw. Eergh why am I so bad at talking to him! I’ve never had so much issues being around a person before. What is it about him that throws me off so much?’ You rambled internally as you slowly made your way over to the man in question. A part of you body really didn’t want to be anywhere near him and it was amplified with each step closer to him you got. There was something about the man that made you uneasy, he was just so… unpredictable. Volatile. Intimidating. Dangerous.

“Hey, Hisoka,” you said once you had crouched down next to him.

“Hmm?”

His eyes shifted to address you and you could immediately feel shivers shoot through your body. It was terrifying and a little exciting if you were being honest with yourself. Everything about this man exuded his strength and this was the reason you had taken part in the hunter exams: to find a worthy opponent. Yet, you knew his skills surpassed your own. Even though you were the prey in this situation, it was exciting to think about bringing him to his knees somehow.

“Uh, I have some bandages. I can, if you want, wrap your cut. Uh, I mean you could just do it yourself! I just thought maybe this could make up for me being distracted a few times in that last test.”

He glanced at the bandages you had in your raised hand. His perfectly manicured hand reached up and took the roll from you.

“You should be careful offering your help to your enemies like that, (Y/N),” he said with a smile and slight squint of his eyes.

“Noted.”

He gave a quick nod of his head before he went about wrapping his side in the bandages you gave him. It seemed he was content with just wrapping it over the pink wraps he had on underneath the white, card suit patterned shirt.

You quickly took your leave and moved back into the spot you had previously occupied. That was more than enough tension for you today.

‘God, where are my friends? I hope they had better luck than me.’

You glanced at the clock to see an hour remaining. They still had a good amount of time, they were probably fine.

\---

The clock now read 15 minutes. You were really beginning to worry. There was less and less people appearing through the doors. It seemed like everyone who was going to be passing this phase was done by now. You couldn’t take your eyes off the door.

\---

1 minute was left now. How could your friends make it? They must have gotten stuck somewhere along the way and you would be doing the rest of this exam alone.

Just as your hope for your friends passing dwindled to nearly nonexistent, you could hear familiar voices. In walked Gon, Killua, and Kurapika! You jumped up from your spot on the floor and approached them quickly.

“You guys did it!”

“Yeah! We promised you we would see each other at the bottom, right?” Gon said cheerfully.

It was at this point you realized Leorio wasn’t present. You were about to ask where he was when you heard his grumpy voice come from the doorway. He appeared with Tonpa all but glued to his side. The two boys fought to get through the door before the other like that would somehow prove who the better man was. You could only smile at the sight of your four boys together in front of you. Somehow, in these past few days, you had grown attached to this group and you were ecstatic that you would all be proceeding forward with each other.

Over the intercom, a voice boomed, interrupting any existing conversations.

“The Third Phase of the exam is over. Twenty-six applicants have passed. One has died.”

A door hidden as a panel in the wall slid open to reveal bright sunlight.

“Please exit the tower through the door.”

The crowd of people, minus the one who had overexerted himself and died right after completing the Phase, shuffled through the door. The sun bore down on the group of twenty five and filled them with her warm energy. Standing outside was the warden of the tower. He seemed pleased at the outcome of his little exam.

You quickly looked around, trying to do a mental tally on who was still competing with you. Aside from your group and Hisoka, you could recognize some of these individuals from the previous Phases. Specifically, you were keeping tabs on 301 with his various...needles poking out from his body, 294 with his whole loud ninja schtick, 103 because you had seen him being real friendly with a bunch of literal snakes, and 384 with his giant blowgun (seriously why was it so big? Is a regular blowgun not good enough?). There was also the trio of brothers but they didn’t seem like they would be making it to the end. 53 seemed to have potential. They showed a lot of stealth and restraint in the previous phases. Overall, there was a good batch of fighters around you. One of these had to be a good match to satisfy the fight you were itching to have.

“Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations on having escaped Trick Tower. Only the Fourth Phase and the Final Phase remain. The Fourth Phase will take place over there, on Zevil Island. Let us proceed.” With a flashy snap of his fingers, a man walked over wheeling a cart with a box on it to the warden. 

“I will need you to draw lots.”

Questions immediately started surfacing in the group. People were confused as to why we would be drawing lots.

The warden quickly answered everyone’s questions with a sinister sentence. “To determine who will hunt and who will be hunted.”

Silence spread across the crowd as the phrase sunk in with everyone.

“In here, are twenty-five numbered cards. In other words, your ID numbers are on the cards. Now, I need you each to draw a card, in the order by which you exited the tower. Will the first person come forward?”

You watched everyone’s move. They were all looking around to see who the top contender was considering this person had passed the Trick Tower first. Your eyes focused in on Hisoka as he moved to make the first draw.

You followed him, making the second lot draw. You could see that your friends were shocked that you had managed to finish second. It seems you had forgot to mention that you had to go through the Phase with Hisoka as your partner, oops!

You could feel everyone judge you based on your appearance. Everyone seemed to be scoping out the competition in hopes of getting that upper hand.

Eventually, everyone had a card in their hand.

“Everyone has a card?” The warden confirmed. “Then, remove the seal from your card.”

You peeled the seal off of your card and saw the number 103 written clearly. Your eyes quickly glanced up. You knew this number and... it belonged...to...ah, there he is. The snake guy.

‘Please, don’t make me be partners with a snake dude this round. I just had to partner up with the ultimate snake!’

“The card indicates your target.”

With that simple statement, the tension among the crowd was palpable. Everyone began looking around at tags, a lot of the people there were already covering their tags. You, on the other hand, left yours alone. You would happily take a challenge! Keeping the tag on might even give you insight to who has you as their target.

“This box has recorded which card each of you drew. This means that you’re free to dispose of the cards if you wish. The objective is to steal your target’s ID tag.”

 

One of the brothers chimed with relief and said, “Oh, so we don’t need to kill each other.” His relief was short lived as the warden answered.

“Naturally, you’re free to use any method you choose to steal the ID tags. Including killing your target and taking the tag off the corpse.”

The brother looked shocked. One of his siblings even agreed that killing your target would be the fastest way to get the tag.

“Listen carefully. Your target’s ID tag is worth three points. Your own ID is also worth three points. All other ID tags are worth one point. You need six points to advance to the Final Phase. So while on Zevil Island, you must gather enough ID tags to total six points. That is the condition for clearing the Hunter Exam’s Fourth Phase.”

That signaled the end of this talk as the group was led to a boat. Everyone boarded and milled about, speaking in hushed voices. You could already see that some people had begun to hide their tags. You still kept your tag on display on your shirt. Unfortunately, you hadn’t been able to pick up on anyone that might be targeting you. Everyone all seemed so uneasy and shifty that it was hard to gauge one person among the crowd.

Before you all were really allowed to relax, a woman walked out from the captain’s quarters of the boat. She addressed the crowd before her.

“I’d like to commend everyone on board for their excellent work during the Hunter Exam’s Third Phase! I will serve as your guide. My name is Khara! It will take two hours for this boat to reach Zevil Island. All twenty-five applicants remaining here are automatically qualified to take next year’s exam! So if you fail this year, don’t feel bad. Please try again next year!”

The only response she got was silence. This seemed to dampen her mood quite a bit and she shuffled off to the side with a twitching smile. It seemed everyone was free to hang out and talk among each other until their arrival to Zevil Island.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters 1-3 were written in 2016! Chapter 4 and on will be written this year! I apologize for any major change in my writing <3


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